Kylara's Flight
Kylara's Flight is a unique Longbow carved of the rare charcoal-black timber known as Ebony Steelwood, and measures six-feet in length from upper to lower limb, remaining a shaped weapon of flawless craftsmanship and unknown age. A taught wire of silver shooting-string runs from tip-to-tip of the elaborate Longbow, with the riser of the weapon featuring an unusual mounting recurve for the shaft of an arrow to be aligned with. The grip of the Longbow, resting just below the mounting recurve, remains bound in layers of supple white leather; the original colour having no doubt faded over the years, to good effect. An ornate carving of various vines and flowing patterns caress the upper and lower limbs of the shaft, the valleys of the etchings having been hand-painted in regal tones of blue and red, adding a final distinctive touch to this very ornamental Longbow. It remains unclear just what purpose this Longbow has had in the history of Fastheld, nor when or for whom it was created. Yet, where facts hide, legends evolve all the same, and through word of mouth Kylara's Flight has evidently forged its own legacy without having to fire a single arrow. Kylara's Flight is the subject of legend among the squabbling historians of Fastheld; a legend fiercely debated in Drinking Halls and Taverns from Aegisport to Seamel Valley. According to the tale, the bow takes it's name from its pivotal role in the escape of a of a young woman named Kylara Zahir, a typical maiden fair who was pledged to marry the son of Duke Mufrey Seamel (the son is described as hideously ugly and of foul temperment, of course). Kylara, however, believed she was destined to marry one of the Duke's Rangers; a dashing young man who roamed Fastheld felling evil Wildlings with a single twang of his mighty bow. As the tale goes, in desperation Kylara took her plight to the Luminary, where a Shadow-Touched Mage took pity on her and cast a spell that turned her into an arrow for one day's time. The Mage arranged for Kylara to be fired over the Aegis to the other side where, landing safely in the soft soil, she would wait until the Ranger could find his own way out of Fastheld, and two could live happily ever after. The tale then breaks down from here, as numerous accounts claim that Kylara did not flee Fastheld safely, and that she transformed back into her normal body while she was in the apex of her flight, bouncing off the Aegis and crashing into the ground below. Others claim that, while in arrow form, the Archer who fired her missed and shot her into the Aegis, where she then choked to death when she resumed her normal form embedded in the stone. Still others claim that she was never even launched from the bow, and that she resumed her normal shape while inside the archer's quiver, awaking naked to find herself wearing only the small band of leather around her body. When this last argument is made, the discussion generally deteriorates into a steady stream of sexual innuendos, and the evening officially goes downhill. Whatever the legend, the arrows launched from this Longbow strike far and true - unlike the story surrounding it. *IC Resting Script: Kylara's Flight, unique Longbow of tall tales and sexual innuendo, rests here. *Status: Owned by Ester Shardwood Kylara's Flight